TimeJanuary 17, 2008Ending the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage would probably help prolong gay relationships, if only because of the financial and legal benefits married couples enjoy. [link]

Pittsburgh Tribune ReviewJanuary 16, 2008As a gay man who has been partnered for 19 years, married in Canada in 2005 and parent of a 2-year-old, I can tell you that we are not attacking Catholics or marriage. We don't want anything more than what all other committed couples have: the tax, health, pension, visitation and death protections that are a part of marriage. These are not special rights. They are protections offered by the government, not the Catholic Church. [link]

Baltimore Sun January 13, 2008Prince George's County senator and civil rights activist Gwendolyn T. Britt died early yesterday. She was 66. The five-year Democratic state senator was expected to introduce legislation this year that would legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland - and by agreeing to do so, she had become a "hero" to that community, wrote Dan Furmansky, executive director of Equality Maryland. "Thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Marylanders and their families only knew Senator Britt by name, and yet this name truly meant everything to them," he wrote. [Link]

Nashua TelegraphJanuary 13, 2008Nearly 100 same-sex couples have been joined in civil unions since they became legal in New Hampshire on New Year’s Day, but residents are realizing that indeed civil unions are not equal to marriage. (Link)

The Bilerco ProjectJanuary 12, 2008Blogger Karen Ocamb writes, “The saddest part today is that LGBT people are still shooed away, still eyed with suspicion, still addressed through code words like “equality” and their representatives – the LGBT press – is still shunned --- while the candidates talk about change and inclusively. Perhaps the most painful part is knowing that the candidates are aware that the LGBT vote is the second largest and most loyal group in the Democratic Party – roughly 75% - second only to African Americans. So while the candidates court the Black vote in South Carolina as a “core constituency” – they are once again rendering us indivisible.” [link]

Bay WindowsJanuary 10, 2008With New Hampshire joining the ranks of the civil union states this year, same-sex couples can now obtain all of the legal state benefits of marriage in four of the six New England states, either through civil unions in New Hampshire, Vermont and Connecticut or through marriage in Massachusetts. But what happens when you cross state lines? (Link)

The Daily Dish December 27, 2007 Andrew Sullivan writes about his pending wedding, "My old friend and marriage advocate Evan Wolfson reassured me as well: You're supposed to be in a zombie-state till the beauty of it breaks through.' Are zombies nervous? They never seem to be. They just stagger forward. Oh, well. Here goes ..."[Link]

The Bay Area ReporterDecember 20, 2007With an estimated six-month window of opportunity until the California Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision in the same-sex marriage case, advocates with the statewide Let California Ring campaign are urging community members to step up activity in an effort to move public opinion in their direction. "The challenge to us in California is: will we use every day between now and the summer to make the same powerful case for the freedom to marry in the court of public opinion," Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, told the Bay Area Reporter during an interview last week. "The clock is ticking."[Link]

Washington BladeDecember 19, 2007Activists are gearing up to oppose the proposed Florida anti-marriage amendment. While some express hope that non-gay retirees will believe the amendment will harm them, Freedom to Marry's Evan Wolfson advises activists to explicitly support marriage equality with a steady drumbeat of local faces and voices. Wolfson said opponents of the amendment must make it clear to Floridians that the fight isn't about lofty ideological arguments, but that, if approved, the amendment will hurt same-sex couples and their children in practical, everyday ways.[Link]